.・゜゜・——— I AM NOT A WOMAN I'M A GOD !
A THUMBS UP AND A THANK YOU NOTE?
APPARENTLY HAVING BEEF WITH THE Goddess of marriage and the queen of Olympus meant that you'd get cows sent your way and they'd leave little presents for you no matter the place you are in, and the inconvenience it would put you in. Annabeth was glaring at Regina slightly while she told the story about the cows to Percy as the child of Ares let a loud and obnoxious laugh.
"That's funny?" She asked, trying to stop the smile that began to form on her own mouth. The two girls hadn't talked to each other since Regina left her with a harsh comment. Now they were in an archway heading towards Olympus, head-planning an oncoming war. Regardless of their argument, Annabeth could not stay mad at the girl with the loud ass laugh.
Regina's lips curled into a bigger smile as Percy watched the both of them gleefully. "That's hilarious. So you reckon if I pissed off Hephaestus he'd send a bunch of donkeys after me?"
"I think he'd just set you on fire, Gi." Annabeth muttered with fluttering eyes, scrunching her nose up as if she was picturing the cow poop in her mind. "Besides, you've already irritated him before. Remember? He's not a big fan of your dad since you-know-what."
Regina made a tutting sound with her tongue. As if she cared what that shrek-looking troll thought about her and her father. He should worry more about which surgeon he should look into for that Botox he very much needed. "He's only mad because my dad stole his bit—"
"Volcano!" One of the Stoll brothers screamed suddenly, and Regina gulped at the sight of a distant volcano rumbling. She and everyone else saw the smoke start to spill out of the volcano that was supposed to be dormant.
"Oh crap." Regina said, feeling Annabeth's angry glare boring into the back of her head. Maybe she should refrain from enraging Gods at a time like this. Although she was sure Hephaestus should have been focusing on fighting a war than listening to what a sixteen year old delinquent had to say about him.
Chiron was trotting behind them, "Regina, I would be careful with your words, especially during a time like this. We must not make enemies while the Gods are fighting in our alliance."
"More like we're fighting in their alliance." Regina said, pressing Bloodthirst further into the harness around her back so that it wouldn't fall out. "We're all barely eighteen and putting our lives at risk so their precious Olympus won't fall. What's in it for us? A thumbs up and a thank you note?"
"Harmony and peace, Regina." The centaur replied to her as if she hadn't been living perfectly fine without those two in her life. "We are facing our biggest threat, we must be grateful for all those willing to fight on the right side."
They walked a bit more until they were in the most crazy room Regina had ever seen. It was enormous, like a room for ten giants. There were twelve thrones, all varying in style and colour. One was centred in the middle; the most elegant throne of them all. Regina took a wild guess and thought that must be the throne of Zeus. There was a fisherman's chair with a fishing rod leaned against it, a vanity chair with pink feathers and pearls decorating the rim. She noticed the brass throne with metal spikes poking out and barbed wire adorning the brim. Her fathers chair.
In a way, they reminded her of their cabins back at camp, which she was about to mention to whoever was standing beside her, until a sea cow became the centre of attention.
Percy smiled at it and said hello to it, sorry, Bessie. Regina chuckled in mockery at the name, as if it wasn't the most cliché thing he could name any pet of his. Was it even his pet? Now she was confused. Why was it at Olympus, and when did he find it?
"Two years ago," she heard Annabeth whisper beside her, as if raising her voice would somehow spawn a God into the room to obliterate them all. "Had the creature been in the hands of the Titans, it would have ended this war quickly, and in someone else's favour."
"Got it." Regina said with raised eyebrows. She wondered how something so small and cute could be the make or break of a deadly war. But recently, things like that have stopped surprising her.
As Regina began to approach her father's throne, she heard a silky voice bounce off the walls in an echo. "Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."
She was a petite woman, with thick brown hair and log-fire brown eyes to match. It seemed like that was her favourite colour by the way her body was decorated with a wispy brown dress that fell to her ankles and trailed up her neck. She was stood by the hearth, poking the flames with a stick, as if controlling the way it burned.
Everyone bowed, so Regina followed with them. If the ones who hated the Gods the most were showing respect to her, then she must have been one of the rare good ones. Percy lowered his head, "Lady Hestia."
Regina hadn't heard much about Hestia, but she knew that she was Goddess of the hearth. Her energy felt homely, and all she wanted to do was sit on a couch with her and drink some warm tea. Her eyes glowed red, but not in an Ares or Hephaestus way, but in a comforting way.
The Goddess analysed Percy, then her lips parted and she spoke. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."
That was not a great thing to announce. Only Regina, Percy and Nico knew about that, so naturally the others began to whisper among themselves. She felt Annabeth stiffen beside her, and a guilt overcame Regina. Maybe they should have told her; she was Percy's best friend, and she was becoming one of Regina's. But everyone knew she'd be too stubborn and refuse to let Percy go through with it.
"You must be careful," Hestia continued, silencing the campers. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."
And as if possessed, Percy's irises whitened and his body slacked, his shoulders sinking and his posture hunching. Regina glanced at Annabeth, who only shrugged her shoulders back at her. There was a trusting aura that floated around Hestia, so Regina didn't feel so inclined to punch her lights out to release the son of Poseidon.
Not even a whole minute went by, when Percy's knees buckled and he began to fall backwards. Annabeth was quick, and seized his arms before he could fall. Percy's eyes were wild, as if he saw a vision that he knew he wasn't supposed to. His eyes flickered from Annabeth to Regina in recognition; he had visions about them.
That made Regina uncomfortable. She didn't want him knowing anything about her life that she didn't want him to know. She glanced at Hestia for answers, but the Goddess of the hearth did not even look her way. She was desperate to know what Percy saw, because his eyes were widened in shock when he looked at Regina.
Percy shook his head, as if he was still in a trance and was trying to snap out of it. He acknowledged the Goddess in front of him, "um, Lady Hestia, we've come on urgent business. We need to see —"
"We know what you need."
Perhaps Annabeth really did spawn another God to the room, because a man who looked like a pilot was suddenly standing beside Hestia. Regina couldn't make out who it was, so she waited for someone else to say his name, or speak so much that she would eventually figure it out.
"I will leave you now." Hestia said in a sudden change of tone, as if she was uncomfortable. The tension created was high, and she left with a quick glance to Percy, then disappeared in the smoke.
"Hello, Percy." The God said, and Regina wondered how many Gods he had either pissed off or made an impression on to get them to know who he was. The pilot's eyes were furrowed in a sort of annoyance, but no matter who this God was, Regina was ready to slash him with a sword if he threatened Percy.
But she took that statement back pretty quickly after the boy began to talk to the snakes that were wrapped around the God's waist like a belt.
"Um, Hermes." Percy muttered, treading over his words as to not irritate the God any further. So this was Luke's father, the deadbeat the blonde boy had so much resentment towards. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."
Hermes eyes were cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"
Nothing was going as planned, and the other campers began to shift uncomfortably. It wasn't good to have everyone's hopes and motivation diminished so quickly. It was not looking good. Regina wanted to speak up, but the darkness in Hermes eyes was enough to shut even her up.
"You guys ... why don't you do a sweep of the city?" Percy asked, barely looking back at everyone. "Check the defences. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me back here in thirty minutes."
Everyone's jaw dropped, and Silena tried to speak, but Annabeth shut her down real quick. "That's a good idea. Regina, you lead."
All eyes were on her, but she was glancing back and forth at Percy and Annabeth. What were they planning, and were they sure it was going to work? They both gave her the same look of reassurance, but Regina wasn't feeling so reassured. Nevertheless, Percy was the leader and everyone knew Annabeth was his right hand girl. She would listen to them if she wanted to live.
With one last look, Regina nodded to the rest of the campers and turned around, leading everyone back where they came through. She had one more look at her dad's empty throne, and wondered what he was doing know, and if he was doing okay. She wondered if he was thinking about her too. But the thing that really clouded her mind, was whatever Percy saw in his vision that made him look at her with a new found shock.
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀs ɴᴏᴛᴇ
Wow. This is so embarrassing for me. I cannot believe I haven't updated in so long, I feel so guilty because I had been updating fairly quickly before, and suddenly stopped.
I promise I am going to try harder, with the Percy Jackson series on its way, I've been very motivated for this book. Sometimes I forget Regina isn't actually a canon character, lol.
With that being said, let's have a discussion about the series? The casting? The scenes? What you hope will be in there? I personally think the casting is absolutely perfect; Rick slayed.